Also Admitted Engaging in On-line Chats with at Least 9 Minor Males in Order to Obtain Sexually Explicit Images of the Minors

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Robert K. Hur; Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office; Colonel William M. Pallozzi, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police; Sheriff James T. DeWees of the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office; Colonel Edwin C. Roessler Jr. of the Fairfax County, Virginia Police; Carroll County State’s Attorney Brian DeLeonardo, and Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney Raymond F. Morrogh.

According to his plea agreement, Fischer was a resident of Carroll County, Maryland and at the time of the conduct was employed as a teacher by the Carroll County School System. In August 2017, law enforcement identified Fischer after he communicated with an undercover agent posing as a minor male on a social networking application geared toward gay and bisexual men. In his chats with the undercover detective, Fischer attempted to arrange a meeting with the detective posing as a minor male, in order to engage in sexually explicit conduct. Law enforcement subsequently executed a search warrant at Fischer’s home in Westminster, Maryland and seized various electronic devices. A search on a cell phone revealed that Fischer had been communicating with five real minors beginning in November 2014 and continuing through his arrest in September 2017.

Fischer admitted that he enticed minor males to engage in sexually explicit conduct with him and took images and videos documenting that conduct. Fischer also attempted to entice two other minor males to engage in sexually explicit conduct with him. In addition, Fischer engaged in online chats with at least an additional nine minor males in which he either attempted to or did obtain sexually explicit photos of the minor males at his request. One minor male was 13 years old at the time the nude photos were exchanged.

Fischer was previously arrested in Westminster, Maryland on related charges and has been in custody since September 13, 2017.

As a consequence of Fischer’s guilty plea, he will be required to register as a sex offender in the places where resides, is an employee, and is a student, pursuant to the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), and the laws of the state of his residence.

Fischer and the government have agreed that if the Court accepts the plea agreement, Fischer will be sentenced to a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison and a maximum of 25 years in prison, and will be required to pay a special assessment of $5,000. U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett has scheduled sentencing for May 20, 2019, at 3:00 p.m.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.justice.gov/psc and click on the “resources” tab on the left of the page.

United States Attorney Robert K. Hur commended the FBI, the Maryland State Police, the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office, the Carroll County State’s Attorney’s Office, the Fairfax County Police, and the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office for their work in the investigation. Mr. Hur thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Ayn B. Ducao, who is prosecuting the case.